How to prepare your home for listing photos: the complete checklist
Everything sellers should do before the photographer arrives, room by room, plus a quick day-of checklist for San Diego listings.
Listing photos are the first showing your home gets. Buyers scroll fast, and the homes that look bright, clean and spacious online are the ones that get booked for a visit. The good news: most of what makes a great photo happens before the camera comes out.
1. Clear the schedule
Don’t book landscapers, pool cleaners, house cleaners, inspectors or contractors during the shoot. People and noise end up in photos and video, and every interruption slows things down.
2. Light it up
- Turn on every light, including lamps
- Replace burnt-out bulbs
- Open blinds and curtains evenly, at the same height in each room
- Turn off TVs, screens and ceiling fans
3. Declutter like a model home
Vacuum, dust and clean mirrors. Then hide cords, trash cans, mail, medications, laundry baskets and family photos. Think minimal, clean and tidy.
4. Don’t forget the outside
Move cars out of the driveway, close the garage, hide trash bins and hoses, and sweep walkways. In the backyard, arrange patio furniture and remove pool equipment.
Want every detail? Our free home prep guide covers every room, the exterior, and drone and video shoots.
The bottom line
A photo-ready home lets the photographer focus on light and angles instead of moving things around, and that shows in the final images. Prep once, and your listing photos work for you for the whole time it’s on the market.
